Guatemala 2010

"Never again this savagery" is the message on the wall of the chapel in Plan de Sanchez.

The site of one of the most infamous massacres of indigenous people by the Guatemalan Army, Plan de Sanchez will be the destination of a one-of-a-kind Guatemalan JustJourney experience this summer. On July 18, 1982, the mountain hamlet was overrun by soldiers who raped and tortured villagers and then forced them into a building that they blew up with grenades. The survivors eventually sued the Guatemalan government, and in 2004, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in their favor.

Every year, the villagers commemorate the massacre. This year UUSC will join them to honor the victims and the survivors of the genocide. On this powerfully inspiring JustJourney, you will learn how survivors not only obtained justice for themselves but also - by bringing the first massacre case ever to be heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights - established a firm precedent by which to hold the Guatemalan government accountable for the more than 626 massacres carried out in the country between 1960 and 1996.

In addition to attending the commemoration, we will meet with UUSC's partners in Guatemala: Maya Achi Association for the Integral Development of Victims of Violence (ADIVIMA), which works to combat injustice resulting from abuse by the Guatemalan government, and STITCH, a women's network organizing for economic justice. We will also visit the site of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation's excavation in Guatemala City and enjoy the beauty of the colonial city of Antigua.